Secrets Uncovered
by spaceman-earthgirl
Summary: These are the stories of how everyone found that Castle and Beckett are dating.
1. Chapter 1

This is a (sort of) sequel to Worst Kept Secret. It's a more detailed look at how everyone found out. There'll be about 5 chapters and I'll write them when I find the time, I have other fics I need to update too but I had to write this first.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

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Castle had asked Beckett out and she'd said yes. He couldn't believe it, after all this time, he finally has a chance with Kate and he doesn't want to screw that up. He took her out to dinner, somewhere nice but not too flashy, somewhere they most likely wouldn't be recognized. They had a great evening, well he thought so anyway. They were both relieved to find that their dynamic hadn't changed even though they were moving forward in their relationship.

It was in the taxi back to Beckett's that things got interesting. All night they'd been flirting with each other, a light touch here, a few words there, but now that they were alone (sort of), they could both feel that the thing between them was stronger than ever. They'd agreed to take things slowly, both not wanting to rush what was growing between them or ruin it.

Castle's hand slowly drifted to Beckett's thigh and he felt her muscles tense through the thin fabric of her dress. He kept his eyes forward and when he felt her relax under his touch, he started moving his thumb up and down, caressing her leg through the dress.

He was startled when her hand came to rest on his. They'd held hands earlier the evening, which was the only physical contact they'd had, but this felt more intimate than just walking into a restaurant hand in hand. He looked over at her then to find she was already looking at him, a small smile on her face which only made the smile that was already on his grow. He moved his hand higher on her leg and the smile on Beckett's face morphed into something more dangerous, a jolt of desire running through him and he suddenly wished they really were really alone.

They remained like that for the rest of the ride her place. They didn't speak, just sat there enjoying each other's company, the warm press of their bodies against each other as they sat too closely in the back of the cab.

Castle had planned to take a cab back to her place with her, being a gentleman and wanting to see she got home safely. He knew she didn't need him too, that she could handle herself, but he just really didn't want the night to be over just yet.

They pulled up at her place and he was about to tell her "goodnight" but her words stopped him.

"Come up?"

She seemed just as shocked as he was that she'd said those words but then she smiled shyly and his returning smile was enough for her to know what his answer would be. She threaded her fingers through his and pulled him from the taxi, handing money to the driver before she led him to her building.

The ride in the elevator was almost too much for them to bear. They stood on opposite sides of the elevator, still wanting to take things slow but not trusting themselves to stand too close to each other. Castle breathed a sigh of relief when the door of the elevator opening and he quickly stepped out, needing to put some distance between himself and Beckett.

Beckett's hands were shaking as she tried to unlock the door. She wasn't exactly sure why she was so nervous. She had invited Castle up to her apartment with her but nothing was going to happen. They'd both agreed to take things slow so that was exactly what they were going to do.

Castle placed his hand over Beckett's to steady it so she could unlock the door and that little bit of contact was all it took for their restraint to snap. Castle spun Beckett around and crowded her up against the door. His mouth was on hers in the next minute and Beckett dropped her keys in favour of bringing her arms around Castle's neck to pull him closer.

Someone moaned, neither was sure which one of them it was, it could have been both, and that only spurred them on. Castle's hands moved to Beckett's hair to pull her even closer.

Beckett realised this probably wasn't the most appropriate behaviour for the hallway where anyone could see them and she was about to tell Castle they should go inside when his mouth left hers and travelled down to her neck. It was definitely her who moaned this time as Castle's tongue moved across her neck as her arms moved lower around his back.

Beckett's mind was on nothing but Castle by that point but she was brought back to reality by someone clearing their throat behind them.

They jumped apart like they'd been burnt to find Beckett's neighbour standing a few feet down the hallway in front of her own door.

"Mrs Sullivan," Beckett said, more breathlessly than she would've liked and her cheeks a very red colour but that could've been from what her and Castle had just been doing.

"Don't worry, it's nothing I haven't seen before dear, I just thought you might want to take your little party inside," replied Mrs Sullivan, giving them a sweet smile before she went inside her own apartment.

"Maybe we should…" Beckett trailed off as she gestured towards her apartment.

Castle just nodded dumbly, not having taken his eyes off her since they'd broken apart.

Beckett retrieved her keys and they both went inside. Castle was now worried that Beckett would ask him to leave or say she thought they should call it a night. However, Castle was most worried that she'd tell him that what had just happened was a mistake and they should just forget it ever happened.

Castle was pleasantly surprised when Beckett turned around and pushed him up against the other side of the close d door, now mirroring their earlier position with her lips at Castle's neck and it was Castle's turn to moan.

They made it to bed not long later but there wasn't much sleeping done that night.

XXX

When Beckett apologized to her neighbor a few days later, Mrs Sullivan told her it was completely fine and she was just happy her and the writer had finally gotten together.

"It's about time," were her exact words which made Beckett laugh. It had been a long time coming and she was glad that they'd finally progressed in their relationship. It was something she'd wanted to happen for a long time and she was incredibly happy that now it had.

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What did you guys think? What to see more of the other people?


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to all those that reviewed/favourited/followed the previous chapter. Sorry it's been a while, I'm back at uni now (while working full time) so finding time to write isn't easy. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

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Castle woke with a start to hear a loud knocking at the door. He was about to get up to go answer it when he realised exactly where he was and whose naked body was pressed up against his own. He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face as he pulled her closer to his body with the arm that was wrapped around her. The arm that she had wrapped around his waist tightened its grip but she seemed to remain asleep.

Castle felt his eyes closing again until he heard a second knock at the door. He really didn't want to leave the comfort of Beckett's arms but he also didn't want to wake her and that's exactly what the knocking at the door was going to do.

"Shhh..." he whispered into her ear when she moved and she settled again, a small smile forming on her face.

Castle would later blame his brain not working properly from lack of sleep and the amazing night they'd had as to why he'd thought it was a good idea to get up and answer Beckett's door. He slowly extracted himself from her grip, pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and then grabbed a pair of pants to wear to the door.

He hadn't wanted to wake her, wanted Beckett to get as much sleep as possible but for some reason his brain completely missed the fact that he would be answering Beckett's door, not wearing much clothes and whoever was on the other side of the door would know exactly what had happened between Beckett and himself the night before. He didn't even check who was at the door before he was unlocking it and pulling it open to reveal a very surprised Lanie.

XXX

Lanie had arrived at Beckett's apartment at 10am, liked they'd organised the previous day. She knocked once, twice, and nothing. She decided to knock one last time, and if that didn't work she'd call the detective, hoping that either she'd been called into work or was just so sound asleep she couldn't hear the door. The first one was possible, the boys may have a lead for a case they were working on and she'd just forgotten to call Lanie, even if it was meant to be her day off. The second didn't seem likely, Beckett not usually being a very sound sleeper but both those options were better than the thought of there actually being something wrong and that was the reason she wasn't answering the door.

Lanie heard movement inside Beckett's place after she'd knocked and relaxed, Beckett just mustn't have heard her knock the first couple of times. Imagine Lanie's surprise when it wasn't Beckett on the other side of the door but a rather naked Richard Castle.

"Castle!" exclaimed Lanie, and her surpirse quickly turned to humour when it seemed Castle had just realised what he'd done and blushed when he realised what Lanie must be thinking. When Castle just stood there, seemingly too shocked to move or say anything, Lanie continued, "where is that girl, she's in so much trouble."

"I...I'll just go wake her," replied Castle, his brain finally catching up and realising just how much trouble he was going to be in with Beckett now.

XXX

"Hey," Castle said, walking into the bedroom and seeing Beckett just waking up. He sat on the edge of the bed and brushed some of Beckett's hair that was covering her face behind her ear.

"What's going on?" she asked, not being able to stop the smile that spread across her face at Castle's soft touch as she nodded towards the door.

"Lanie," replied Castle, and that one name sent Beckett into a panic, she'd completely forgotten she was having breakfast with Lanie this morning. She quickly jumped out of bed, grabbing the first items of clothes she could find to pull on.

"Beckett?" asked Castle, stepping in front of Beckett and placing his hands on her upper arms to still her after she pulled a top over her head.

Castle was worried. Worried that he'd just revealed to her best friend that something had happened between them, worried that she wasn't ready for that step in their relationship yet, worried that now she'd pull back, but mostly he was worried that she regretted what had happened between them and he just had to know what she was thinking.

"Are you okay?" he asked when she hadn't replied, just stood there looking at him.

And then Beckett did the last thing Castle expected her to do, she burst out laughing.

"Beckett?" Castle asked again and before Castle had any time to process what was happening, she was kissing him and obviously he kissed her back.

Beckett was the first to pull away and she rested her forehead against Castle's and then he asked, "You don't regret this?"

"Never," she replied, kissing him quickly again.

"And you don't care that Lanie knows?" He had to be sure, he didn't want anything to ruin what was happening between them.

She laughed again, pulling her forehead from his and running her eyes appreciatively over his bare chest as she spoke, "well I'm sure there's going to be some teasing now, especially after Lanie saw you dressed like that but I definitely don't regret last night. And besides, I was going to tell Lanie about our date anyway."

"You were?" Castle couldn't believe that she was going to share that with her friend.

Beckett had been so excited about telling Lanie about her date with Castle, had wanted to share with her how happy she was that Castle had finally asked her out.

"Yeah," Beckett smiled up at him and then paused and realised that she didn't know if Castle had regretted last night and she became nervous herself, needing to know what Castle was thinking, "do you regret what happened?"

"I could never regret you," replied Castle and now it was his turn to press a kiss to Beckett's lips.

"Kate?" Lanie called out, wondering what was taking Beckett so long.

"I better go talk to her. I'll ask her if we can postpone and we can have breakfast together, if you want to, that is?" Beckett asked, looking away from Castle.

"There's nothing I'd love more than to have breakfast with you," Castle replied, kissing her one last time before she had to go see her friend.

XXX

Beckett had only been able to put Lanie off until lunch. Lanie was happy to postpone their meal together, making it lunch instead but in exchange she said she wanted details and she wouldn't rest until she got them.

Beckett had had breakfast with Castle before they'd showered (together) and then Beckett had left to go meet Lanie while Castle had gone home to see his daughter. They were having dinner again that night, not wanting to have to wait too long to see each other again.

"So, spill," said Lanie, as soon as they'd sat down at a café they often spent time together at.

"Castle and I had dinner last night?" Beckett said, but it came out sounding more like a question, knowing that Lanie would want more detail than that.

"And dinner ended up with him staying at your place, how?" and then Lanie thought that maybe this wasn't something new, maybe they'd been hiding a relationship from everyone for a while.

"I honestly don't know," said Beckett, laughing slightly to herself, "It just sort of happened."

"Katherine Beckett, I want details and I want them now," replied Lanie, knowing she'd have to push Beckett for more information, "how long has this been going on?"

"Since yesterday," said Beckett, smiling again, remembering how excited and happy she'd been when Castle had asked her out and she'd said yes.

"One day?" exclaimed Lanie, "One day and he's already opening your door shirtless?"

"I told you, it just sort of happened." Beckett wasn't sure how things had progressed so quickly last evening but she supposed that they'd been denying their attraction so long that it was bound to bubble to the surface at some point.

"Kate, come on, I need more than that."

"Fine." She had been intending to tell her more details all along, she was just having fun teasing Lanie. "We went out for dinner, our first date, and I had a great time, so much so that when he went to say goodnight in the cab, I sort of invited him up."

"You invited him up?" Had Beckett made a move on Castle after all this time?

"I know, I was as shocked as you are right now having said it but I didn't want the night to end so I invited him up to my place and that was when things got interesting," she paused then, smirking at how interested in the story Lanie was before she continued. "We'd spent the whole night flirting with each other and we held hands but that was it and then I couldn't get the key in the lock, my hands were shaking so much, and then his hand was on mine to help me with the key and then he just sort of snapped and we ended up making out against the door."

"No way," said Lanie, not believing what she was hearing but now seeing how it had been Castle who had answered Beckett's door this morning in so little clothing.

"But it was so embarrassing," continued Beckett, laughing as she remembered being caught by Mrs Sullivan, "my elderly neighbor sort of caught us making out in the hallway."

Lanie was laughing now too, "this story just keeps getting better and better."

"And yeah, so we went inside and one thing led to another and that's how Castle ended up half naked at my door this morning," finished Beckett, glad that she could share this with her best friend, share how happy she was.

"And how do you feel about all this?" asked Lanie, wanting to know her friend was okay.

"I feel great," replied Beckett, unable to hide the goofy grin that had taken up residence on her faceever since Castle had asked her out yesterday.

"Yeah?" asked Lanie,

"Yeah," replied Beckett, now smiling softly at her friend and how much she cared for her.

"You seeing him again soon?"

"Tonight."

"For another hot round of wild sex?" replied Lanie, wiggling her eyebrows at her friend.

"Lanie!" Beckett exclaimed but couldn't stop the laugh that followed. "We're just having dinner actually."

Lanie just raised an eyebrow in response.

"Fine, we're having dinner but who knows what will follow that," replied Beckett, but she knew exactly what she wanted to happen after dinner and she was sure Castle wouldn't be opposed to her ideas either.

"I do," replied Lanie, laughing when Beckett just shook her head at her.

They finished eating lunch together, the topic moving away from Beckett's love life and then they parted ways, Beckett promising more details later.

Beckett headed back to her place after that, already wishing it was dinner time so she could see Castle again. That goofy grin was back when she checked her phone and saw she had a message from him which simply said, "I miss you," to which she replied saying "I miss you too."

It was ridiculous, they'd seen each other a few hours ago but she found herself wanting to see his face, kiss his lips and be in his arms again. And she couldn't wait until tonight when she could do just that.

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Let me know what you thought :)


	3. Chapter 3

These are incredibly fun to write so here's another one.

Thanks for the reviews/favourites/follows for the previous chapter, the fact that you guys want more keeps me writing.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

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They'd managed two days, two days where no one else had found out about them. Castle thought his family may suspect something since he hadn't slept at home in the past two days, but they hadn't said anything. He was going to bring it up with them, just not quite yet, he was enjoying having Beckett all to himself.

They had picked up a case and now they were at a crime scene, having come straight from Beckett's bed. Lanie was giving them knowing looks which they both chose to ignore and just hoped the boys didn't notice. Beckett was going to have to have a word to Lanie about that later though.

Yesterday all Beckett had done was paperwork and Castle had had meetings to go to for his next book so they hadn't seen each other at the precinct. This was good because it meant less chance of someone finding out about them but they'd missed each other so much they hadn't even made it to Beckett's bedroom the previous night when he'd turned up at her place. Well they did make it to her bedroom, but only for round two.

So now they were at the precinct together for the first time since things had changed between them and they were both finding it difficult to keep their distance from each other.

Neither was making it easier for the other though as any chance they got, they'd make physical contact of some kind. It ranged from a simple brush of hands when Castle handed Beckett her coffee to more risky behaviour like Beckett sliding her hand up Castle's thigh under the table. All this teasing contact only left them wanting more.

They were both to blame for what happened next after how they'd been touching each other all day. Castle had suggested it but Beckett had been all too keen to go along with Castle's plan. She was to leave her desk, file in hand, as if she was actually working and then several minutes later, Castle was to follow and they were going to meet in one of the mostly unused corridors in the back of the precinct.

That part of the plan went off without a hitch and before Beckett knew it, Castle had her pushed up against the wall in much the same position as she'd been when they were caught their first night together. Relief flooded through her as Castle's body came into contact with hers. She moaned out loud but she didn't care, they were alone and she didn't care if he knew how much she wanted him.

They don't know exactly how long they'd been there, doing what they'd both been thinking about doing all day, when they heard a loud gasp behind them. They jumped and looked towards the sound of the noise to find a very startled and red faced Ryan.

Beckett was suddenly extremely glad they both had all their clothes on although that didn't stop Beckett from being rather embarrassed at what Ryan had just witnessed. It'd just been quite a heated make out session but that was all, they were at work after all.

"Ryan!" Beckett exclaimed, sounding rather breathless so she pushed Castle back, who was still mostly pressed up against her, so she at least could get her breathing under control.

Ryan just stood fixed on the spot, a look of shock and horror etched across his still very red face.

"You okay there Ryan?" Castle asked, laughing slightly when Ryan had still said nothing and was trying not to look them in the eye. While Castle was embarrassed about how they'd just been caught, the look on Ryan's face was rather amusing. Plus, Beckett wasn't freaking out so he didn't need to either but he thought he should at least say something to break the silence.

"I...yeah," Ryan said, voice strained as he was still trying to process what he'd just seen. He'd always thought that there partnership was leading to this kind of relationship. He just thought that when that did happen, he wouldn't find out by catching them making out in a dark corridor at work that he can't even remember why he's in now.

He turns to make a quick exit, barely having said two words but Beckett's voice from over his shoulder stops him, "Ryan, wait."

Ryan turns, blushing again as he sees that while Castle has now stepped even further away from Beckett, they have their hands intertwined.

"You won't tell anyone about this, will you?" Beckett asked, nodding her head to their joined hands, "It's just Gates-"

Ryan interrupts her, knows what Gates would do to their partnership if she found out. It was their business anyway, whether they wanted to tell people or not."Of course not."

"Thanks," Beckett replied, smiling at Ryan who nodded his head in return, only making eye contact for a second before he looked away embarrassed again.

Ryan cleared his throat, "I..ahh…better go." Whatever reason he'd been in this part of the building can't have been that important anyway.

As soon as Ryan had left, Beckett turned to Castle, burying her head in his chest as his arms came up around her to hold her close as she spoke, "well that was thoroughly embarrassing."

Castle just laughed in response, the sound vibrating through Beckett.

"Do you think we scarred him for life?" Beckett asked, the words said into Castle's chest.

Castle laughed again, "I don't think so, but I'm sure he'll have a hard time looking us in the eye for a while."

Beckett extracted herself from Castle's arms, giving him a quick kiss before speaking, "We better get back ourselves, before someone notices we're missing."

"We can continue this tonight?" he asked, stroking his thumb over her cheek.

"Of course."

"At my place?" Beckett heard the uncertainty in his voice but she wasn't sure if it was because he was unsure about inviting her to his place or whether he was unsure about what her answer would be.

"Are you sure?"

Castle kissed her this time, lingering as he pulled away. He knew from the way she asked that she wanted to come over to his place just as much as he wanted her there and that erased any uncertainty from his mind as to what her answer would be.

"Of course I'm sure," he replied, smiling softly.

"Then your place it is," she said, smiling in return and suddenly nervous about this evening. She knew that tonight he was going to tell his mother and daughter about their new relationship and while in the past that would have made her turn and run, now she was excited about this next step in their relationship.

XXX

When they returned to the bullpen, they could hear Esposito asking Ryan what was wrong since he was still rather red. He told Espo he was fine but as he said it, he looked up and caught sight of them walking back to Beckett's desk. Ryan blushed again and quickly looked away. Luckily Esposito didn't seem to notice because he let the subject drop.

Beckett had to put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing because he really did look

traumatised. Beckett was just glad that was all he had walked in on otherwise he really would have been scarred for life.

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Review?


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the wait.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

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Castle left the precinct early that night so he could cook dinner for his family and Beckett. He was busy cooking when his mother and daughter walked in the door, hands full of shopping bags. He didn't even want to know how much money they'd spent, he'd learnt not to ask any more.

"Hi Dad," said Alexis, once she'd put down the bags and came around the kitchen counter to give her father a hug.

"Hey, Pumpkin," he replied, wrapping his arm around her and kissing her on the head.

"What's the occasion?" Martha asked, nodding towards the food currently cooking on the stove.

"Can't I cook for my family? And I haven't seen you two in the last few days so I thought we could all have dinner together."

"Busy at work?" Alexis asked.

"Not exactly," replied Castle, smiling to himself, thinking about how much has changed in the past few days.

"Don't tell me you're seeing someone. Richard, you know that that's not the way to get over her," replied Martha, deciding to be blunt with her son and wishing for nothing but his happiness but knowing that he'd only be truly happy if he was with Detective Beckett.

Castle couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out of him at his mother's statement.

"Mother, it's not like that," replied Castle when he'd stopped laughing although he still couldn't keep the smile from his face.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Alexis suddenly, looking shocked as she continued, "Really?"

"Really," replied Castle, his smile now turning into a large grin as Alexis threw her arms around him to give him a big hug.

"What is going on?" asked Martha, lost by the mostly silent conversation Castle and Alexis seemed to be having.

"Dad's dating Beckett," said Alexis excitedly to her grandmother.

"Oh, Richard," said Martha, giving her son a hug too.

Once they'd both let him go, Castle continued, directing his question at Alexis, "You're okay with that then?"

Of course she was okay with it, she was more than okay, she could already see how much happier her father is. She hadn't seen him much in the last few days which she'd assumed was case related but now she's trying not to think too much about what he was probably actually doing. She was happy for him though, as long as he was happy, so was she and she knew that Beckett would make him very happy.

"Of course I am Dad, Beckett makes you happy and that's all I want," replied Alexis, smiling as her dad pulled her in for another hug.

"Good, because she'll be here soon for dinner."

**XXX**

Beckett had been nervous about having dinner with his family for the first time since they'd become a couple but she'd had nothing to worry about. Both Alexis and Martha had been very welcoming and they both seemed completely okay with the fact she was dating Castle which she was glad for.

Dinner had been delicious, she hadn't know Castle was such a good cook, just another thing that surprised her about him. Then all four of them had sat around talking and it all just felt so normal and natural and while she wanted some alone time with Castle, she found herself sad when both Martha and Alexis excused themselves to go to bed.

"Are you okay?" asked Castle, once his family had left. Beckett had obviously been to the loft before, had even had dinner with him and his family but this was the first time since things had changed between them that she'd seen his family and he just wanted to make sure.

"I'm great," replied Beckett, smiling at Castle when she saw him smiling at her answer. They were sitting side by side on his couch and he had his arm resting on the back of the couch behind her. Now that his family had gone to bed, she shuffled closer into his side and his arm fell from the back of the couch to wrap around her shoulder.

Still smiling, she asked, "bed time?" As she said this she couldn't help reaching up to brush his fringe across her forehead. Her hand lingered and Castle took it, placing a kiss on it before he stood up, pulling her up with him.

Castle then kept her hand in his and led her towards her bedroom, glad that she wanted to stay the night with him.

**XXX**

When Beckett woke the next morning, it was to an empty bed. She sat up, looking around for Castle, which was when she heard the talking floating in through the open door and she figured Castle must be out their talking to his mother or daughter so she lay back down, snuggling into the incredibly comfortable bed and expensive sheets.

She lay there for a few minutes, just thinking about how lucky she was and how happy she was that her and Castle had finally taken the leap to something more.

She lay there for a bit longer, just thinking, when she decided that now was the perfect time to call her father. Castle had told his family about them and she wanted to tell her dad.

After the third ring, her father answered, "Hi Katie, is everything okay?"

"Hi Dad, everything's fine, I was just calling to ask if you wanted to have lunch together on Sunday." She planned on inviting Castle to lunch too.

"Of course sweetie, I'd love to," replied her father, relieved nothing was wrong and glad he would get to see her soon.

Before Beckett could reply, she was interrupted by Castle walking into the room, "Babe, what time do you need to be at work?"

He stopped short when he noticed the panicked look on Beckett's face with her hand covering the mouth piece on her phone.

Castle's eyes widened in panic too when he realised what he'd just done.

"Who's on the phone?" Castle mouthed, hoping that he hadn't just spilled their secret to yet another person.

"My father," Beckett mouthed back, before she turned her attention back to her phone when she realised her father was talking.

"Katie, are you still there?"

"Yeah, Dad, I'm here," replied Beckett, not entirely sure why she was panicking, she had been planning on telling him anyway, right?

"Is someone there with you?" asked Jim, and Beckett could've lied, or said she was calling from work and that he'd heard one of her colleagues talking but she was done lying and she wanted to share this part of her life with her father because it was a big part of her life and it made her so happy.

"Yeah," replied Beckett, smiling at Castle as she spoke.

"I'll go help Alexis with breakfast," Castle mouthed, smiling back at Beckett, wanting to give her space to speak to her father alone.

Her father remained quite, waiting for Beckett to speak, so she continued, "I've started seeing someone."

Jim tried not to think about what it meant that whoever she was with was with her this early in the morning, "I was wondering why you sounded different."

"Different?" Beckett inquired, wanting to know what he meant.

"Happy," replied Jim, he could hear it in her voice, she sounded happy and more relaxed than she usually did.

"I am," Beckett replied, biting her lip as she really thought about how happy she was, how happy Castle had made her.

"How long have you two been dating?" Jim asked, "and when do I get to meet this lucky man?"

"I was thinking I could bring him to lunch on Sunday?"

"That'd be great, I'd love to meet him."

"You already have," and then she paused, wondering if she should actually reveal how long they've been dating, "and we've been dating for four days."

"Four days!" Jim exclaimed, and then he realised what Beckett had also just said, "wait, I've met him?"

"Yeah," Beckett said, replying to both her father's questions. She took a deep breath, "I'm dating Castle."

"Oh," he paused, he'd been expecting this, should've already known she was going to say it was him, but it was still a surprise, but a surprise he was happy about, "okay then, I'm glad."

"You are?"

"I am, he's a good man, and he's good for you."

"I know," Beckett replied, her smile growing even bigger, glad her father approves but also knows Castle well enough to see that he's good for her.

"One last question though."

Yeah?" Beckett wondered what her father had to ask.

"He calls you babe?" Jim asked, laughing as Beckett spluttered.

**XXX**

After Beckett finished speaking to her father, she made her way into the kitchen to find Castle, Martha and Alexis about to sit down for breakfast. She couldn't help the grin that spread across her face when she saw that they'd set a place for her too.

"Morning," Beckett said as she sat down next to Castle, who they proceeded to lean over and whisper "morning" in her ear before placing a kiss on her cheek. Beckett blushed when Castle pulled away and she saw that both Martha and Alexis were watching with smiles on their faces.

Beckett was surprised and relieved when breakfast wasn't at all awkward. She was worried that things may be different this morning after she'd stayed with Castle but his family were as welcoming as ever and didn't seem at all suprised that she was still there, which they probably weren't.

Castle and Beckett retreated back to his room after breakfast after Martha had insisted that she and Alexis would do the dishes since they had to get to work. They showered (together) and as they were leaving Alexis surprised both Castle and Beckett by hugging her before she left, saying she hoped she'd be back soon.

Beckett and Castle smiled all the way to work. Beckett was happy that their families now knew, that they didn't have to worry about keeping it a secret from them because apparently, they weren't very good at it.

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Review?


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry this took so long but I hope people are still interested in reading it. Hopefully writing this will help me get back into writing my other fics too.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

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It was the evening after their families had been let in on their secret and that day at the precinct had been a fairly good one. They'd closed their current case earlier so they'd arrived home at a decent hour and no one else had found out their secret yet. But frankly, there weren't that many people left to tell and Beckett was considering just telling Espo since all their other friends had found out already. Of course they weren't going to tell Gates about their new relationship but the way they're going, it probably wouldn't be long until she found out either.

They'd had dinner with Castle's family again and Beckett was pleased at how accepting they'd been of her but she should've expected it anyway, they'd always made her feel like family.

"Bed time?" Castle asked a few hours later after the rest of his family had gone to bed and the two of them had spent some time alone curled up on the couch together.

"Sure," Beckett smiled, first getting off the couch and then offering her hand to Castle to pull him up as well. The smile stayed on Beckett's face as she led Castle to his bedroom by the hand.

They'd spent every night together so far since this thing between them had begun and Beckett knew exactly what she was going to do to him on this particular night and at least she knew that there was no one to catch them in a compromising position this time.

XXX

Castle woke to the buzz of a cell phone. He opened his eyes and saw the clock on the other side of the bed read just after 3am. He reached blindly out behind him to grab the offending item to stop the awful noise it was making, he really didn't want to be awake so early in the morning when he should be sleeping. On second thought though, if he was awake and Beckett was awake too, they could repeat some of the things she did to him just a few hours before. But now wasn't the time for those kinds of thoughts, he just wanted the noise to stop and he was glad when his hand finally curled around the phone.

Realising it was a call, he hit the answer button and brought the phone to his ear, just as Beckett began to stir in his arms.

"Castle," he answered, wondering who on earth would call him at such a ridiculous time in the morning. Beckett was now opening her eyes and Castle couldn't help but think how adorable she was waking up.

"Castle?" said the person on the other end of the line, before they repeated, "Castle?" when he didn't immediately respond.

"Yeah, sorry, what? I'm here," replied Castle, having gotten distracted watching Beckett wake up.

Beckett, realising Castle was on the phone, rolled out of his arms to the other side of the bed and switched the light on.

"What are you doing?" asked the voice on the end of the phone which he now realised was Esposito's. Why was Esposito calling him so early in the morning?

"Ummm…" Castle started, about to say he was sleeping but he was interrupted as Beckett gasped, now seemingly a lot more awake than before.

"What is it?" Castle asked, after moving the phone away from his mouth and covering the mouth piece with his hand. And it was then that Castle turned his head in horror and realised what he'd done. He'd answered Beckett's phone.

And there was no good explanation as to why Castle would have Beckett's phone at this time in the morning expect for the fact that she was with him. Castle knew he sounded sleepy on the phone, like he'd just woken up, so he knew exactly which conclusion Espo would jump to and that would be the correct one, that they were sleeping together.

"Bro, you there?" they heard Esposito say through the phone and before Castle had a chance to even think about how to reply, Beckett was taking the phone from his hand and holding it up to her ear.

"We got a body?" she asked, her voice betraying none of the nervousness she felt.

"Beckett?" the detective asked and a few seconds later Castle heard a shout of "I knew it," come through the phone when Espo must have worked out exactly what Castle and Beckett being together at this time in the morning meant.

"Do we have a case?" asked Beckett again, choosing to ignore Esposito's last comment.

"Yeah we do," he replied and Beckett could tell by the tone of his voice that he was wearing a huge grin.

"Text me the address, we'll see you there," Beckett said before she hung up the phone, leaving no chance for Espo to respond or make a joke.

Beckett threw the phone to the end of the and buried her face in her hands and took a few calming breaths.

"I'm sorry," Castle said and when she looked up, she had to admit that he did really look sorry.

Beckett waited a minute before replying, wanting Castle to at least squirm a bit before she let him off the hook, "it's okay, he was bound to find out eventually, especially with our record, it'll be no time at all before the entire city knows."

"And what would you do if the whole city knew?"

Beckett thought about the idea of everyone knowing she was dating Richard Castle and she found she wasn't completely opposed to the idea and at least then the women at his book signings and parties would know that he was taken, that he was hers.

"I want to keep this between us for a bit longer but the idea of everyone knowing doesn't scare me nearly as much as it used to," Beckett replied and she was happy with her answer when she saw the look of pure joy and adoration that was now on Castle's face.

"Really?" he asked, was she really okay with them going public with them eventually? That certainly showed how committed to them she was.

"Really, Castle, but we should at least try to keep this from Gates for a bit longer," she replied, causing them both to laugh as she pulled him in for a kiss.

XXX

Less than an hour later they arrived at their latest crime scene with now Ryan, Lanie and Esposito sending them knowing looks as they got out of the car together and made their was over to where they were standing.

Before any of them could make a comment about the fact that they were arriving together or anything else, Beckett spoke, "Look guys, you all know now and we'd appreciate it if you kept it quiet since we don't want the public or Gates finding out just yet."

Lanie, Esposito and Ryan all looked at each other, something unsaid going between them which neither Castle or Beckett were entirely sure of before they replied.

"Of course we won't tell anyone sweetie, we're just happy that you two are finally together." That was Lanie.

"We have your backs." Esposito.

And Ryan, "Yeah, don't worry about it guys, your secret's safe with us."

"Thanks guys," Beckett replied with Castle nodding his thanks by her side, "Alright, what have we got?"

The day went by normally after that and Beckett was glad not much had changed between her and her boys expect for despite Esposito's earlier assurances, it didn't stop him from spending most of the day making jokes about their new relationship.

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Thoughts?


	6. Chapter 6

Last chapter! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/favourited/followed this fic and I hope you enjoy the end.

This chapter is mostly from Gates point of view but there is a bit of Beckett thrown in at the end because I really wanted to write the last scene properly.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

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Captain Gates first became aware that one of her best detectives was in a relationship when she overheard her on a phone call. She'd been standing near Detective Beckett's desk when she caught the end part of a phone conversation she was having.

"Yes, I know, you're sorry and you can make it up to me later."

There was a pause as the other person replied and then she heard something she wasn't sure she'd ever heard from Beckett before, she laughed.

Gates was standing behind Beckett as she was at a nearby detective's desk, looking at a file she'd just been handed but her attention was now focused solely on the detective and her words. She couldn't see the Beckett's face from her current position but she wondered if the detective was now smiling.

"Save that kind of talk for later."

Gates was beginning to wonder who Beckett was talking to since this obviously wasn't a work related call. A quick glance around the precinct showed a distinct lack of Mr Castle and Gates couldn't help but wonder that maybe it was him she was talking to.

"Listen, Babe, I've got to go, paperwork calls, but I'll see you tonight for dinner?"

Gates definitely heard Beckett call the other person on the line Babe. Could it be Mr Castle she was talking to? Or was there a guy in Detective's life that she was yet to hear about.

Gates handed the file back to the other detective she was with before she spoke.

"I expect an update when you receive any more information," she said, loud enough the Beckett would here and end her conversation so she could get back to work.

Gates heard a hurried, "I've really got to go, bye," as she made her way into her office, taking her out of earshot of the now blushing detective.

XXX

The next day Castle was back at the precinct as the team had picked up another case. Gates decided to pay at bit more attention to the detective and her partner today to see if anything seemed out of the ordinary. At first she didn't notice anything different, they seemed just like their usual selves. And except for the fact that they both seemed to be smiling more and had generally seemed happier recently, she wouldn't have thought anything was out of the ordinary.

That is until she ventured out of her office into the bullpen to get a case update and the reaction was immediate. All of a sudden they both moved so there was several feet of space between and they were decidedly not looking at each other.

_How odd_, thought Gates and she added it to the list off evidence that she was gathering that they may have in fact taken that final, inevitable leap and started dating. She wouldn't say anything, especially since she didn't have concrete proof yet. But since Castle wasn't officially part of their team and if they were now in a romantic relationship, it didn't seem to be causing any problems for there working relationship, she would let it slide, for now at least.

She almost found it funny, how the fact that they were consciously trying to put space between them actually made her more suspicious that something was up as they usually stood so close together.

Gates finished getting the case update and returned to her office. As she took her seat at her desk, she looked out the window and couldn't help but shake her head at the fact that Castle and Beckett were still standing far too far apart. If they were trying to keep it a secret, it really wasn't working.

XXX

For the next week Gates just sat back and watched, finding it quite amusing to see just how Castle and Beckett were trying to hide their relationship because she was pretty sure that's what it was now, that they were finally dating.

It was on this particular day that stress seemed to get the better of the detective, their current case was a tough one, and she heard Beckett and Castle arguing before she snapped at Castle to "just leave me alone and go home."

Now Castle was staring sadly at Beckett's empty desk as after their argument she had left herself, but choosing to head towards some of the back corridors at the precinct instead of leaving the precinct itself. Castle looked at a loss of what to do. She could tell he wanted to go after Beckett but also wanted to give her some space so now he was left in the bullpen looking upset and uncertain of what to do.

Gates decided to follow the detective, tell her to take the rest of the day and to take Castle with her. She could see the stress she was under from this case and she knew Beckett wouldn't be on top of her game if she was stressed, tired and arguing with Castle. A clear minded detective in the morning was much better for the case than the state Detective Beckett was in right now.

She found Beckett in one of the back corridors and ignoring the tears in the detective's eyes, she told her to go home and get some rest. Beckett agreed, looking too worn out to put up much of an argument and knowing the boys could handle things for one night.

Gates was glad when she arrived back in the bullpen and saw Castle and Beckett leaving together and hopefully they'd be back to normal by tomorrow.

The next morning when Beckett and Castle returned to work, things seemed to be much better between them and while they were away the boys had caught a break in the case. They were currently interrogating their main suspect but they had all the evidence they needed and were just trying to get a confession while Castle and Beckett watched from the observation room.

XXX

Beckett was thankful to Gates for telling her to leave yesterday because it meant she got to calm down and get some much needed rest. It also meant she could fix things with Castle and apologise for how she snapped at him. So here they were, back at the precinct, and currently watching Ryan and Esposito interrogate their suspect as it looked like they'd cracked their case while they had been away.

But Beckett was having a hard time concentrating as Castle was invading her personal space that was bordering on inappropriate for work. He was currently standing behind her with his mouth at her neck, causing her to lean into his body and tilt her head to give him better access.

Before Beckett knew what was happening Castle was spinning her and now she was pushed up against the wall, her hands roaming up and down his body, pulling him closer. And she just noticed that her shirt was partially open, when did that happen

She knew they should probably stop but no one was going to walk in since the boys were on the other side of the glass and how was she meant to resist Castle like this?

They'd both lost track of anything apart from the feel of each other but when the door opened, the quickly sprung apart, red faced and panting and knowing how much trouble they were in when they saw who was standing in the doorway.

XXX

Gates thought she'd check in on how the interrogation was going since the case had been such a tough one, she wanted to make sure everything was running smoothly but she stopped short as she opened the observation door and saw what was happening on the other side.

"What on earth is going on here?" Gates asked, once she'd recovered from the sight she'd just seen, Castle pressing Beckett again the wall while he kissed her neck as she held him close. They were both standing on opposite sides of the room now, both breathing heavily and she wondered if the red cheeks were from what they'd just been doing or due to their obvious embarrassment.

She was met with shocked silence as both stood gaping at her.

"Umm detective?" said Gates, nodding to Beckett's partially open shirt. The detective quickly looked down and redid the several buttons Castle had managed to get open on her shirt. Gates waited until Beckett was done before she spoke again.

"This behaviour is not appropriate and I don't want to catch you doing anything like this ever again in my precinct, is that clear?" She could condone them being in a relationship as long as they acted professionally while at work.

"Yes sir," they both replied together, still looking embarrassed and now nervous.

"I want you both to go home, Detective's Ryan and Esposito can handle the rest of this case, and I only want you to return when you're more presentable and you can control yourselves around each other and I want no more of this while at work or he's gone for good." She finished her sentence by pointing at Castle.

"Yes sir," they both replied again. "Thank you sir," Beckett added afterwards.

When they both just stood there staring at her she said "go" and they both quickly moved into action and made a quick exit, wanting to get out of there before she changed her mind.

Turns out she was right about them all along and she just hoped that this wouldn't change how they worked together and she wouldn't have to see again what she just witnessed.

XXX

It turns out they were really bad at keeping their relationship a secret so they both decided that they would no longer worry about who knew. Knowing that even the public would find out eventually, they talked about it and they were both okay with that now. Just as long as they acted appropriately at work and could control themselves, everything would be just fine. It really doesn't matter who knows about them because they have each other and that's all that matters.

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Thanks again! What did you think?


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